If there were anything to spoil, Chris Daggett would be a spoiler

Chris Daggett was at a street fair in Belmar Sunday handing out
copies of the editorial that appeared in that morning’s Star-Ledger,
the one with the headline that read “Daggett for governor.”

“Daggett’s election would send shock waves through New Jersey’s
ossified political system and, we believe, provide a start in a new
direction,” read one passage that was highlighted.

It’s hard to argue with that. Certainly no one in the crowd did.
Those coming up to shake Daggett’s hand were full of encouragement. All
seemed ready to bury the two-party system.

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerIndependent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett shaking hands at a campaign stop at Pier Village in Long Branch on Sept. 5.

With good reason. New Jersey may be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, but the major-party candidates spent last week arguing about obesity. Were incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine’s TV ads using camera angles to emphasize Republican Chris Christie’s weight? In defense, Corzine claimed the camera angles in Christie’s ads emphasized his baldness. He was right. They also make him look like a serial killer in a sweater vest, by the way.

Meanwhile there was Daggett. He looks like someone a Hollywood casting director might place in the role of the kindly governor who saves the state from an invasion of flesh-eating marmosets. As a 59-year-old veteran of both the Kean and Reagan administrations, he has an air of competence absent in the two top contenders. There’s no pressure on the third man in a three-man race, and Daggett was enjoying the moment.

“All up and down New Jersey people have been are coming up to me and saying, ‘I really want to vote for you, but I’m afraid a vote for you is a vote for Corzine,’ or ‘I’m afraid a vote for you is a vote for Christie,’” Daggett told me. “Well, between the endorsement today and the poll numbers coming up, somebody will all of a sudden say, ‘This is possible’ and then there will be tidal wave for me, and I only have to get 35 or 34 percent in a tight race.”

That’s not likely. More likely is that Daggett will take votes from Christie and get the governor re-elected. Corzine came into this campaign with little chance of getting 51 percent of the vote. But if Daggett pulls in the double digits on Nov. 3, Corzine can still count on 40-plus percent from the Democratic base of urban voters and unionized workers.

Christie, by comparison, went out of his way to alienate the Republican base with his heavy-handed tactics in the primary against Steve Lonegan. His plan was to reach out to the middle-of-the-road voters instead. But the voters in the middle of the road at that street fair Sunday sure seemed to like the looks of Daggett.

So the big question going into the second debate Friday night is: Can the Christie campaign make the necessary adjustments?

Here’s my guess: Not a chance. At the first debate, Christie made the mistake of calling attention to Daggett when he should have been attacking Corzine.

The GOP campaign badly lacks both preparation and discipline. I saw an example of that last week at a Star-Ledger editorial board meeting when I asked Christie what should have been the softest of softball questions. His ads and his website tout his promise to cut property taxes. If elected, what would he do about taxes in a town like Montclair, where the taxman annually demands the price of a Toyota from many homeowners?

The answer should have been: “Immediately upon taking office I will do A, B, C, and D to cut those outrageous taxes. The dastardly Democrats will fight me all the way, but those homeowners deserve relief.”

Instead, Christie gave an answer that was the equivalent of a three-cushion shot in billiards. First he would work to establish more charter schools in the cities. Eventually those charter schools might save the taxpayer a bit of money. Then he could go to the state Supreme Court and implore the justices to let him send a few cents to Montclair.

By then, of course, annual tax bills there will be in the Lexus league. As for Corzine, I asked him the same question later in the week. His answer was that he hopes to restore tax rebates. In other words, he aspires to offset the cost of the tires on that Lexus.

So much for the major-party candidates. I have yet to meet a voter who has offered any motivation for supporting one except for the prospect of keeping the other out of office.

Well there’s a way to keep them both from winning. And for the next three weeks, Chris Daggett is going to have a tremendous amount of fun pointing it out.